There are 10 million hogs in North Carolina being raised industrial style. Most all of these hogs are located in the environmentally sensitive area of North Carolinas Coastal Plain (area East of I-95). Each and every day, those 10 million hogs produce fecal waste equivalent to what is produced by all the citizens in the following states combined: North Carolina, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Hampshire and North Dakota (100 million people). This ten to one ratio is verified by the research of Dr Mark Sobsey (UNC, Chapel Hill)
There are 2 million hogs in the Neuse River Watershed producing more than twice the fecal waste of every citizen of North Carolina.
What are Hog Lagoons? The hog industry uses an outhouse system of waste disposal. Fecal waste, urine and wash down water from swine operations are stored in open waste pits the industry calls lagoons (sorry no bathing beauties anywhere near these lagoons). When the waste pits fill up, the industrial swine producer sprays the untreated waste onto fields under the pre-text of growing crops, While some crops are produced, the main purpose of spraying the waste is disposal. In thousands of pictures and video taken by the state agents and private citizens, this waste is shown running off directly to our wetlands, streams, creeks and rivers.
More than a billion fish have perished since the hog industry over populated Eastern North Carolina with their industrial swine production. Most of these fish had open bleeding lesions covering their bodies. Fish deaths in the Neuse and other rivers of eastern North Carolina are directly linked to nutrient pollution. One of the leading producers of nutrients is the hog industry. This nutrient pollution has been linked to outbreaks of Pfiesteraa toxic organism that attacks both fish and people causing neurological damage and other serious health problems.
Asthma Now, there is mounting evidence of this industrys adverse impacts on public health. Gases, including hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, accompany the putrid odor that permeates and stresses surrounding communities. One recent study conducted under the auspices of the NC Department of Health and Human Services showed that hog facility neighbors reported more headaches, runny noses, sore throats, coughing, diarrhea, and burning eyes than people who do not live near hog facilities. Other research supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences described odors and asthma symptoms of students in NC middle schools located near these facilities.
Ten years ago, the North Carolina General Assembly established a moratorium that was intended to prevent new construction or expansion of hog waste lagoons. Not withstanding this moratorium, the industry has added more than 500,000 hogs to their inventory. In the process, they have used a loophole in the law to add nearly 100 new lagoons to their operations. During the past ten years, new alternative technologies to replace lagoons and spray-fields have been developed. These new technologies are both effective and affordable. However, the industry has refused to adopt these new technologies on the premise that they are not economically feasible. While nothing will ever be as cheap to operate as an outhouse, the industry does have the financial resources to replace lagoons. Smithfield Foods owns most all of the swine in NC. Over the past 5 years, their NET EARNINGS totaled nearly one billion dollars. Much of those profits were realized through pollution of our air and water.
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
Learn more about the consequences of hog pollution in NC by visiting:
Write you local state representative and senator. Click here to locate your representatvie or senator.
Support the Foundation and its Neuse Riverkeepers in their effort to civilize the hog industry. The Neuse Riverkeepers are widely recognized throughout North Carolina and the United States as the leading advocates in this effort.
